Radiator grille construction



Aug. 17, 1937.. EYRlNG 2,089,935

RADIATOR GRILLE CONSTRUCTION Filed June 5, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 6 5 M;Q 7 g i Q 1' F l m m M a m m m 1! l1! II! I m A m in u HI m m u u w m InIn IN E Au 17, 1937. H. EYRING 2,089,935

RADIATOR GRILLE CONSTRUCTION Filed June 5, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2InUenZ-m":

17 2 rcrf 5/14 77 Patented Aug. 17, 1937 umrso STATES rarsarorricsRADIATOR, GRILLE ooNs'rRUoTmN Herbert Eyring, North Olmsted, Ohio,assignor to The Globe Machine &' Stamping Company, Cleveland, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Application June 5, 1937, Serial No. 146,604

, 13 Claims. (01. 189-82) My invention relates to a metal grilleparticularly suitable for guarding the air-admitting aperture in thefront of the radiator-housing shell of an automobile, and to a grille ofthis class in which both the grille blades and the blade-connectingcross-bars are generally flat metal strips.

In such grilles it is already customary to have the blades extendgenerally parallel to each other 1D and with their fiat facesapproximately at right angles to' the general plane of the aperturespanned by the grille, to have the vertically spaced cross-bars presenttheir flat faces approximately at right angles to the fiat faces of '3the blades, and to space the blades consecutively from each other byhaving portions thereof extend through suitably spaced slots in thecrossbars. However, it is difficult in practice to have each such bladeportion fit the corresponding slotsufiiciently closely to preventrattling, while still permitting a speedy assembling of the blades andcross-bars and also allowing for manufacturing variations in'thethicknesses of the blades and in the width of the slots. Consequently,various auxiliary provisions have commonly been required for clampingeach blade positively to the cross-bars, thereby undesirably increasingthemanufaoturing cost of the grilles.

So also, if the selected construction required the providing of slots inboth the cross-bars and the blades, additional difliculties and expenseshave been encountered in adapting such a construction to grilles shapedfor affording variously'shaped' frontal-surfaces, or for employing agiven cross-bar and blade assembly for grilles in which thegrille frontas a whole slopes downwardlyaway from the general plane of thegrilleguarded aperture to varying extents.

Moreover, additional dimculties have been en- 40 countered when a grilleis to present the forward edges of its blades in a common forwardlyconvexed frontal surface, instead of a plane, so that each blade mustdispose its forward and usually widened frontal portion in a surfacewhich is correspondingly convexed.

In practice, it is already customary to form such a widened T-head orbead portion on the forward straight edge of a metal strip which is toform a blade, and thereafter to curve the resulting blade so as topresent the forward face of its widened head portion in a surface whichis oonvexed' longitudinally of the blade.

However, with any suitable metal for such a blade, as for example astainless steel, the resil- 5 iency of. the metal will cause a thuscurved blade to spring more or less out of the curvature momentarilyproduced by the deforming or curving operation, to' an extent which willvary both according to the'particular curvature and with differentbatches of the same metal. So also, the Variations or so. calledtolerances needed for economical manufacturing make it commerciallyimpossible to obtain the exactness of curvatures which both in theblades and in the cross-bars for'insuring the obtainingof the desiredfrontal surface convexing of the grille by a mere' slidable assemblingof the blades and cross-bars after the manner of assembling therelatively transverse members of the customary partitioning means in anegg carton or a candy box.

Furthermore, in a modern automobile the frontal grilleis expected toreduce the visibility of the radiator core behind the grille, for whichreason the frontal portions of the blades should be polished foreffectively reflecting light so as to reduce the visual acuity of theobserver and also to remove any finger marks left by the grilleassembler. This polishing is usually effected by traversing the forwardportions ofthe blades with bui'fing wheels moved longitudinally of theblades, and in practice portions of these wheels engage sharp forwardedge portions of the crossbars, thereby; greatly reducing the life ofthese bufling wheels and increasing the cost of the bufiing orpolishing.

It is also customary, after blades and crossbars have initially beenassembled into an interlocking grid-like structure, to coat thispreliminary assemblage with a black or otherwise colored coatingmaterial. This coating can then be buffed off the T-heads or brightfrontal blade portions so that the exposed and polished stained steel ofthese front blade portions will be all the more conspicuous andeye-catching because of their contrast with the flat blade portions ofthe cross-bars. With the just recited procedure, it is likewiseimportant that the buffing should not remove any material part of thecoating on the parts of the crossbars which extend between consecutiveblades.

My present invention aims to obviate all of the above recitedshortcomings of the heretofore proposed metal grilles of alliedconstructions by entirely eliminating the need of auxiliary means forclamping the blades firmly to the cross-bars, and by providing a bladeand cross-bar assemblage which will permit the flat faces of eachcross-bar to be disposed at varying angles to the frontal, face of thegrille without requiring manufacturing changes in either the blades orthe cross-bars. Furthermore, my invention aims to provide the justrecited advantages while permitting both the blades and the cross-barsto be formed of quite thin metal strips, and while also facilitating theassembling of the entire grille so as to efiect a further reduction inits manufacturing cost.

More particularly, my invention relates toa metal grille inv which theblades and cross-bars are assembled (partially after the manner of thepartitions inan egg carton) by having the flat portion of each bladeextend successively through forwardly open slots in the severalcrossbars, and aims to accomplishthe following purposes: V

(1) Providing a grille of this class in which the fiat part of eachblade has embossed por-- tions, spaced substantially similarly to thespacing of the cross-bars; and in which each slot in' a cross-bar has anenlargement through which such an embossed blade portion extends, sothat these embossed portions determine the extent to which each bladeprojects forwardly beyond the cross-bars.

(2) Relatively forming the said embossed blade portions and the saidslot enlargements, so that their interengagement will prevent a relativemovement of the blades with respect to the crossbars in directionsparallel to the faces of the cross-bars, thereby insuring a rigidassembly even when the slots in the cross-bars are wider than thethickness of the blades.

(3) Forming the said embossed portions of the blades as embossed ridgesextending longitudinally of the blades and spaced similarly to thespacing of the cross-bars, so that each blade can simultaneously beinterlocked with all of the cross-bars by a longitudinally sliding ofthe blade.

(4) Having each such embossed ridges include main parts extendingparallel to a longitudinal edge of the blade, and similarly directedportions diverging in the same direction from ends of the 5 said mainparts, for facilitating the assembling of each blade with the cross-bars(by a longitudinal sliding of the'blade) regardless of con siderablevariations in the preformed blade curving from that required in theresulting assem- 5 bling.

(5) Providing a stop formation associated with at least one of theseveral embossed ridges of each blade, for limiting the longitudinalsliding of the blade during the assemblage of the blade with thepreviously suitably spaced cross-bars, so as to insure an adequateprojecting (beyond the endmost cross-bars) of the blade end portionswhich are to be fastened to end members of the grille.

6O (6) Disposing the said main portions of the embossed ridges on eachblade at such a spacing from the rear edge of each blade that thegrillecan readily be assembled without having the blade scrape on the bottomsof the slots through which the blade extends.

(7) Disposing the said main ridge portions of each blade also at such aspacing from the head, or other widened frontal portion of the blade,that this frontal portion will not scrape off the 7 forward edges of thecross-bars during the assembling.

(8) Forming the cross-bars so that the portions of these bars whichextend between consecutive blade-receiving slots have their forwardedges bowed rearwardly to afford anincreased clearance to portions of abuffing wheel used in polishing the blade fronts, and curving similarlydirected frontal edges of these bowed cross-bar portions to preventinjury to the bufiing wheel and also to prevent having coating materialbrushed off these cross-bar portions during the bufiing operation.

(9) To provide blades and cross-bars which can easily be assembled bysimple sliding operations into a grid-like assemblage which can be Ifreely handled as a unit and thereafter fastened to a grille frame orother apertured supporting member.

Illustrative of the manner in which I accomplish the above and otherobjects of my invention,

Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of approximately half of an automobileradiator grille embodying my invention, with the embossed formations onthe blades exaggerated in size for clarity.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged and fragmentary perspective View of an end portionof one of the blades.

Fig. 3 is a similarly enlarged perspective view of a portion of one ofthe cross-bars. Fig. 4 is a vertical section through the grille of Fig.1, taken along the line 4-4 of that figure.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged and fragmentary plan section taken along the line55 of Fig. 1, showing the disposition of the blade ends with respect toadjacent parts of the upper frame member of the grille.

Fig. 6 is a similarly enlarged and fragmentary plan section, taken alongthe line 66 of Fig. 1;

showing the interlocking of the blades with a cross-bar. Fig. 7 is anenlarged view showing two relative positions of a cross-bar with respectto the part of the blade with which that bar interlocks.

Fig. 8 is a section taken along the line 88 of Fig. '7.

Fig. 9 is a section taken along the line 99 of Fig. 8.

' Fig. 10 is an enlarged frontal perspective view of a part of one ofthe cross-bars.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary side elevation of two cross-arm-engagingportions of a blade, showing a more simple form of the embossing,suitable for use with straight-edge blades.

Fig. 12 is a view, allied to Fig. 9, showing a different shaping of thefrontal (or head-forming) blade portions and a different location of theembossed ridges from those pictured in previous figures.

In the drawings, the rear view of Fig. 1 shows a part of a grille whichincludes a frame comprising riser members G connecting an upper framemember U with a lower frame member L. The same figure also shows mynovel blade and crossbar assembly as attached to this frame member bywelds W which secure the end portions of the blades respectively to thesaid upper and lower frame members, and by welds W which secure theturned-down ends of the cross-bars to the riser members R of the frame.

In constructing such a grille, I first provide blade strips of suitablelengths, each of which has a longitudinal edge part formed to afford aT- head B (Fig. 6) for the'blade, this head being done by a well-knownrolling operation while the strips present straight free edges R (Fig.2). Then I bend each of the various strips longitudinally to correspondapproximately to the appro priate curvature which the head front of thatparticular blade is to have in the completed grille. When this is donein any usual inexpensive manner, the blade usually springs somewhat outof the curvature to which it was momentarily formed by such a curvingoperation, so that the blade will thereafter resist an effort to returnit to the desired curvature, and I later on employ this resistance aspart of the means for insuring a firm interlocking of the blades withthe crossbars regardless of manufacturing variations.

Instead of providing both the blades and the cross-bars withtransversely extending slots, after the manner used in egg cartonpartitions, I provide only the cross-bars C with slots S which usuallyare parallel to each other, but form no slots whatever in the blades.Each of the crossbar slots is preferably of a depth d (Fig. 3) shorterthan the width (t (Fig. 8) of the fiat blade part B behind the T-head ofthe blade, and each slot is of ample width so that such a flat bladepart can readily be inserted into the 'slot and also slid (lengthwise ofthe blade) with respect to the cross-bar.

As means for interlocking the blades with the cross-bars, I provide eachcross-bar slot with a lateral enlargement E (Fig. 3), desirablyintermediate of the depth of the slot, and emboss each blade withformations adapted to enter and substantially fit these enlargements inthe several cross-bars C, these formations on each blade being spacedsimilarly to the spacing of the crossbars.

In its simplest form, each such embossed formation may be a merestraight ridge R (Fig. 11) parallel to the longitudinal edges of theblade, and in the preferred form of Figs. 2 and 7 each embossingincludes a similarly disposed main portion R. However, to facilitate aspeedy attaching of each blade to all of the cross-bars (when theselatter are temporarily held in the desired definitely spaced parallelrelation by a suitable its, in a manner well known to the art) Ipreferably also have these embossing's' include guide portions t (Fig.7). These guide portions all extend toward the same end of the blade anddiverge at an oblique angle from the main portions R of the erhbossings.Each such guide portion preferably has its free end reduced both inwidth and in height, as also shown in Fig. 7, thereby providing atapering tip which will easily enter the slot enlargement E in thecross-arm for guiding the main embossed ridge part R into thatenlargement.

With the blades and cross-bars thus constructed, and the cross-bars heldin a jig, each blade can readily have its flat part B inserted into theslots of all the cross-bars while each embossing of the blade is nearbut spaced from the adjacent crossbar (such as C in Fig. 7) By thenpressing longitudinally spaced parts of the blade more or less towardthe cross-bars, the blade then can readily be flexed digitally so as tohave the tail tips of the several embossings simultaneously enter theslot enlargements E in the several cross-bars, and the assembler thencan instantly slide the blade longitudinally so that the main part R ofeach em bossing extends through a cross-arm, as shown in Figs. 1 and8.

However, if no means were provided for limiting the extent of thissliding, part or all of the blades might easily be slid to such anextent that one blade end would not adequately overlap a part of theadjacent end member of the grille frame, while the other end might betoo long in proportion to the width of the part of the other frame-endmember to which that end is to be fastened. To avoid this diificulty, Ipreferably also 5 provide a stop formation adjacent to the end of atleast one of the aforesaid embossed formations, namely the end oppositethat from which the guide portion t extends.

For this purpose, Fig. 7 shows the main embossed ridge portion R ascontinued by a stop portion 1' extending transversely of the blade. Inpractice, a stop portion adjacent to a single one of the several mainportions R on the blade would suffice, but these may be adjacent to eachsuch main portion (as shown in Fig. 1) so that a single punch and diewill sufiice for consecutively forming the entire embossings on theblade.

With the interlocking arrangements thus provided, the length of eachmain ridge portion automatically compensates for manufacturing variations in the spacings between the consecutive cross-bars, or in theexactness of curving of the blades, as shown for example in Fig. 1 whereonly the uppermost embossed stop portion 1' engages the adjacentcross-bar. Moreover, owing to resiliency of the blades, I have foundthat a speedy attaching of these to the cross-bars in the above recitedmanner will effect a so firm an assembling that the resulting grid-likestructure can readily be handled as a substantially rigid unit whilethereafter positioning it in the frame of the grille.

So also, even if the embossed ridge portions do not snugly fit the slotenlargements through which they extend, the previously mentioned effectof the resiliency of the blades will still effect this rigidity, so thatthe flat blade part need not correspond closely in thickness to thewidth of the slots. Consequently, I can readily employ blades of assmall a thickness as one-sixtieth of an'inch, a thickness for which asnugly fitting slot cannot readily be sawed in the much thicker metalwhich is required for each cross-bar to give the latter an adequatestrength and rigidity.

To avoid a rapid deterioration of a buifing wheel used for polishing theT-head fronts of the blades (or removing a previously made coating onthese T-heads) and also to avoid having the buffing wheel scrape such acoating off the forward cross-arm edge portions which extend betweenconsecutive slots, I bow these edge portions rearwardly (as shown at Cin Fig. 6) and also preferably curve the bowed portions down- Wards asshown in Fig. 10. By so doing, I cause the said bowing to afford moreclearance for a bufiing wheel which has its fibres moving down- Wardlyalong a blade head, while the rounded edge C also allows such fibres toslide over it without cutting the fibres or scraping coating materialoff that edge.

To facilitate the proper spacing of the T-heads of the blades, whichheads B extend beyond each end of the flat blade part B as shown in Fig.2, I desirably also provide each end member (U or L) with rearwardlyextending fingers F, spaced so that a T-head can readily be insertedbetween each two consecutive fingers as shown in Fig. 5.

However, while I have heretofore described my invention in connectionwith an embodiment in which the grille front has both ends rearwardlyconvexed, and in which particular desirable details are included,changes may obviously be made without departing either from the spiritof my invention or from the appended claims. For example, Fig. 12 showsthe embossed main ridge portion as adjacent to the rear edge of eachblade, and the corresponding slot enlarge- Inent adjacent to the rearend of each slot. So also, the same figure shows the widened frontportion of each blade as a bead or tube T.

I claim as my invention:

1. A metal grille including an assemblage of spaced and parallelcross-bars with spaced and parallel blades extending transversely of thecross-bars, the several cross-bars having rela- 5 tively alined sets ofslots extending rearwardly into them, and the said slots being providedwith counterpart and similarly directed lateral enlargements; each bladeincluding a flat main part extending consecutively through and slidablyfitting alined slots in the several cross-bars; the said main blade partalso having alined ridges, of relatively short length in proportion tothe spacings between the cross-bars, extending through the enlargementsof the slots through which that blade part extends, the said ridgessubstantially fitting the said enlargements so as to anchor the blade tothe cross-bar.

2. A metal grille as per claim 1, in which the said ridges on each bladehave similarly directed end portions of less height and spread than theremaining portions of the said ridges, to facilitate the entry of theridges into the said slot enlargements by a longitudinal sliding of theblades, with respect to the cross-bars, in the direction in which thesaid ridge end portions face. 3. A metal grille as per claim 1, in whichthe said ridges on each blade have similarly directed end portions ofless height and spread; than the remaining portions of the said ridges,'to facilitate the entry of the ridges into the said slot enlargementsby a longitudinal sliding of the blades, with respect to the cross-bars,in the direction in which the said ridge end portions face; each blade,also including a stop formation adjacent to theopposite'end of one ofthe ridges, for limiting the sliding'of the blade in the said directionwith respect to the cross-bars.

4. A metal grille as per claim 1, in'which each blade also includes afrontal head portion of considerably greater width than the said flatmain portion of the blade, the said blade head portion being spaced fromthe ridges on the blades by a distance greater than the distancebetweenthe mouth end of one of the said cross-bar slots and theenlargement of that slot, whereby the extending of the said ridgesthrough the said slot en,- largements causes the blade to have its said'head portion spaced forwardly from thecross-bars;

5. A metal grille as per claim 1, in which each slot enlargement is of asemi-circular section,

and in which the part of each ridge which extends through such aslotenlargement is of a semi-tubular section having its exterior radiuscorresponding substantially to the arcuate portion of the saidsemi-circular section. V

' 6. A metal grille of the class inwhich generally fiat, spaced andsubstantially parallel, blades have their ends fastened respectively tothe two end members of a frame, in which spaced crossbars have theirends fastened respectively to the two side members of the frame, inwhich the several cross-bars have slots of counterpart spacing extendingrearwardly into them, and in which each blade has rearward parts thereofextending consecutively through a slot in each cross-bar; each of thesaid slots having a lateral enlargement, and each blade havingridgesextending longitudinally of the blade and respectively through andsubstantially fitting the said enlargements in the slots through whichrearward portions of that blade extends; the said ridges beingrelatively short with respect to the spacings between the cross-bars sothat the said ridges on the blade can be simultaneously slid through thesaid enlargements of slots in the several cross-bars by sliding theblade longitudinally after the blade has had rearward portions thereof;spaced in the same direction longitudinally of the blade from the said,ridges, inserted in the said slots.

7. A metal grille as per claim 6, in which each blade also has a stopformation disposed for engaging one of the several cross-bars to limitthe said'longitudinal sliding of the blade with respect to thecross-bar.

' 8. A metal grille as per claim 6, in which each ridge on a blade hasits main portion extending substantially parallel to a longitudinal edgeof the blade; and in which each ridge also includes a guide portionextending toward an edge of the blade from the .end of the said mainportion which faces in the direction of thesaid sliding of the blade,the said main and guide portions having their axes at oblique angles toeach other.

9. A metal grille as per claim 6, in which the end of each ridge whichfaces the adjacent crossbar is of less height and spread than the saidmain portion of the ridge.

10. A metal grille as per claim 6, in which each ridgepn a blade hasits, main portion extending substantially parallel to a longitudinaledge of the blade; and in whicheach ridge also includes a stop portionextending transversely of the blade from the end of the blade. oppositeto the end which faces in the direction of the said sliding of theblade.

11. A metal grille of the class in which generally fiat, spaced andsubstantially, parallel blades have their; ends fastened respectively tothe two end members ofa frame, in which spaced cross-bars have theirends fastened respectively to the two side members" of the frame, inwhich the several cross-bars have slots of counterpart spacing extendingrearwardly into them, and in which each blade has rearward portionsthereof extending'consecutively through a slet in each cross-bar; eachblade having frontal portion extending forwardly of the cross-bars andof considerably greater width than the blade parts extending through thesaid slots, the portions of the forward edge of each cross-bar whichextend between the consecutive slots in that bar being bowed rearwardlyto prevent a material engagement of the said edge portions with abuffing wheel during the polishing of the said widened frontal portionof the blade. I a 1 12-. A metal grille as per'claim 11, in which thesaid rearwardly-- bowed edge portions of the cross-bar are bentdownwardly so as to present sets of slots extending rearwardly into themand having each slot provided with a lateral enlargement; and bladeseach fastened at its ends respectively to the, top and bottom framemember, each blade including a general flat rearward part extendingconsecutively through and slidably fitting alined slotsin the severalcross-bars; each rearward blade part adjacent to each cross-bar having.an embossed anchoring ridge extending substantially parallel totheforward edge of the blade, and extending through the slot enlargement inthe said adjacent cross-bar; each such ridge being equally spaced fromthe forward edge of the blade and each slot enlargement being similarlyspaced from the forward edge of the cross-bar, so that the severalridges on each blade can be slidably inserted in the slot enlargementsof the several cross-bars by a longitudinal sliding of the blade, afterthe inserting into the slots of the several cross-bars of the rearwardportions of the blade which are similarly spaced longitudinally of theblade from the ridges on that blade.

HERBERT EYRING.

